Cue the "Trolley Song" -- St. Louis Congressmen Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan are lauding a federal grant that could finally make a long-sought streetcar route a reality.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today a $293 million investment in transportation projects around the country, including $25 million for a two-mile trolley line that would run between Forest Park and the University City Loop.

Five other cities, including Charlotte, Chicago and Cincinnati, also received funding for similiar "urban circulator" projects.

The St. Louis trolley would travel along Delmar Boulevard, the border between Clay's and Carnahan's districts.

"I am so grateful to President Obama and my former colleague, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, for supporting this wonderful project with a major federal investment,” Clay said in a statement. “I have been pushing the Loop Trolley for almost ten years because it will connect two great neighborhoods that I am proud to represent, the U-City Loop and Forest Park."

The trolley is the dream of Loop impresario Joe Edwards, who has a scale model of the trolley line in the window of his popular bar and restaurant, Blueberry Hill.

On Friday, Carnahan will host a press conference with Edwards and Department of Transportation Undersecretary Roy Kientz at Blueberry Hill to offer more details for the trolley funding.

Supporters of the Loop trolley have said it could cost between $45 million and $55 million, with private donations covering the portion not covered by public funds.